B.C. man guilty of sex tourism

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

VANCOUVER - A Burnaby, B.C. man has pleaded guilty to sex tourism charges involving 14 underage girls in Cambodia and Colombia.

Kenneth Klassen appeared in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Friday and admitted to committing the crimes between December 1998 and March of 2002.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of importing child pornography and will be sentenced in July.

Klassen, a father of three, was originally facing 35 charges for the exploitation and sexual abuse of children in Cambodia, Colombia and the Philippines.

He was accused of abusing girls as young as nine and charged in 2007 after a two-and-a-half-year international investigation that netted videos showing a man having sex with young girls.

Klassen challenged Canada's child-sex tourism law in 2009, saying Canadian courts had no jurisdiction in other countries, but a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled the law is internationally valid because many countries have similar legislation.

"In the absence of extraterritorial legislation, Canada would become a safer harbour for those who engage in the economic or sexual exploitation of children," Justice Austin Cullen wrote in his decision.

Canada's child-sex tourism laws were enacted in 1997 and bolstered five years later so the consent of the foreign country where allegations of sexual abuse took place was no longer needed in order to lay charges.

Vancouver hotel employee Donald Bakker was the first Canadian to be convicted under the law in 2005.

He got a 10-year sentence for 10 sexual assaults on girls between seven and 12 in Cambodia, where he videotaped the abuse.

In November of 2008, two Quebec aid workers pleaded guilty to sexually abusing teenage boys while working at an orphanage in Haiti.

Armand Huard was sentenced to three years in prison and Denis Rochefort was given two years.

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Top 5 off-beaten path Asian destinations

1. Gili Islands, Indonesia

Nestled alongside the Muslim island of Lombac, two hours by boat from the popular tourist island of Bali lie the Gili islands. The largest of the three, Gili Tranwangen, can be circumnavigated in a few hours with a bike. White sand beaches with warm, crystal clear turquoise waters welcome surround each island, collectively known as the turtle capital of the world. No vehicles are allowed on any of the three Gilis, so visitors must travel by foot, bike, or traditional horse-drawn carriage. Many of the beach-side restaurants serve up a fresh seafood bar-b-cue feast each evening with a late-night party three times per week at one of the local bars. Adventure travelers can enjoy stunning scuba diving along reefs, drop-offs and sunken ships with the opportunity to see an elusive sun fish. Kayaks, bikes, and snorkel gear are available for rent along many of the beaches for guests to cycle off to their own private beach for a day of sun.

2. Phu Quoc, Vietnam

Phu Quoc island, an hour flight from Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam, boasts beaches rivaling Thailand's without the resort development. The quiet beaches with their warm, gentle waters are best enjoyed in the winter months, when Vietnam's other beach towns of Hoi An and Nha Trang experience more inclement weather. Find yourself a quiet bungalow on the beach and laze away the days soaking up the sun, snorkeling, diving, or squid fishing in this untouched, lazy beach town.

3. Ulan Bator, Mongolia

The vast steppes of Mongolia, north of China offer some of the most pristine landscapes in the world. Ulan Bator, the capitol city of Mongolia, serves as the jumping-off point for visitors to this largely nomadic nation. Time your visit with the annual summer Nadam festivals and enjoy the archery, horse racing, dancing, and singing. Stay with a Mongolian family, known for hospitality, in a traditional ger, or tent, while you dine on sheep's head soup or fermented mare's milk. Spend the days on horseback traveling through the wide-open plains, or venture by camel into the Gobi desert. For the truly adventurous, visit Mongolia in the winter to experience sub-zero temperatures as you explore the snowy lands by dog sled.

4. Lhasa, Tibet

Lhasa, the birthplace of Tibetan Buddhism, sits at an elevation of over 11,000 feet. Dine on traditional mutton and beef as you explore the palaces and temples of this religious city. Of particular interest is the Potala Palace. The former residence of the Dalai Lama is now a museum. Plan your visit from March to October and give yourself enough time in the city to adjust to the high altitude.

5. Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap, located in the northern region of Cambodia, is home to the temples of Angkor Wat. The civil war and Khmer Rouge in the 1970s and 1980s made Siem Reap and neighboring Angkor Wat largely inaccessible to tourists, but the country has since experienced a boost in tourism to the famed temple complex. Hire a tour guide and tuk-tuk and spend your days exploring the many temples scattered throughout the Angkor complex. Make sure to see the Bayon, covered with 216 faced of Avalokiteshvara, Ta Prohm, made famous by the film Tomb Raider, and the main Angkor Wat temple depicted on the flag of Cambodia. As the temple grounds close for the evening, head back to the sleepy town to experience traditional Khmer cuisine or a late-night drink at one of the many local watering holes.

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Thai Riots Spark Reporting Via Twitter, YouTube

IDG News Service — The serious riots in Bangkok this week have taken a tragic toll out on the streets, but have also sparked an unprecedented emergence of amateur news gathering, shared over YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, which has proved ideal for the fast-moving situation.

The mainstream Thai and foreign media have been overwhelmed by a small army of individuals equipped with mobile phones and Twitter accounts, who are posting continuously from both sides of the barricades. Such grass-roots reporting may be commonplace in the developed world, but has come as a surprise in Thailand, which still lacks a commercial 3G service.

The appeal of online independent media is easy to understand; the official Thai media is slow and selective, as all the television stations are government-controlled and the message they are required to present is carefully tailored. By contrast, Twitter messages are posted within seconds of incidents occurring, followed a few minutes later by photos posted to TwitPic or TweetPhoto. Videos of street fighting between government forces and the Red Shirt protestors are appearing on YouTube within a few hours of incidents occurring.

The use of social media this week is reminiscent of how Iranians turned to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube last June, during the government crackdown on protesters following the disputed elections.

This intrusion of independent online news distribution into what has previously been a government monopoly is being keenly felt in many quarters. First, the Thai authorities have no way of blocking the online activities of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is widely regarded as both the figurehead and paymaster of the Red Shirts.

Thaksin, a billionaire who made his fortune in the Thai telecom market, has been a regular Twitter user since mid-2009 from his forced exile in Montenegro, and now has 96,000 followers. Although Thaksin has a Web site, a Facebook page, and conducts phone-ins and live-video broadcasts, Twitter is apparently his favorite communication method, providing a fast and convenient channel to local media.

Second, the YouTube videos have become instrumental in holding both sides to account for their actions. Acts of brutality and recklessness from both sides have been published, and government television has been forced into broadcasting special programs each evening devoted to analyzing the videos and highlighting what they describe as acts of terrorism by Red Shirts while absolving the government forces from criticism.

All this activity has thrived despite Thailand having the most outdated mobile phone system in South-East Asia. Alone among its neighbors, Thailand has no commercial 3G service, and will be without one until next year at least. Most of the country relies on GSM technology, with GPRS/EDGE available in the cities. Even impoverished neighbors Cambodia and Laos have 3G networks, supplied by Vietnamese company Viettel.

Thailand has yet to hold 3G spectrum auctions, with regulator National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) having cancelled several auctions over the past few years. The reasons for the cancellations range from complications in details of the bidding conditions, disagreements over pricing, and uncertainties over NTC's authority under the hurriedly written 2007 constitution which followed Thaksin's ouster.

The delay, critics say, is more likely due to the patronage-based approach to business favored by existing telecom companies allied to a confused regulatory environment, both of which are symptomatic of the country as a whole.

The horse-trading over telecommunications licenses is, in fact, exactly the kind of elitist and exclusionary process that the Red Shirt protestors claim to be trying to uproot. Read more!

USNS Mercy Arrives in Guam for Pacific Partnership

WASHINGTON - The Military Sealift Command's hospital ship USNS Mercy is moored in Guam to bring on mission-support teams, supplies and other equipment to prepare for a five-month humanitarian deployment.

The deployment is part of Pacific Partnership 2010, the fifth in an annual series of U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance endeavors. The mission officially kicked off, May 1, when the Mercy left San Diego.

"We have a lot of partners out here," Navy Capt. Lisa M. Franchetti -- Mercy's commodore and commander for the overall Pacific Partnership mission – said yesterday in a "DoD Live" bloggers roundtable. "We have eight partner nations, six host nations and 17 [nongovernmental organizations] that will be sending volunteers throughout the mission."

This year's mission will focus on providing assistance ashore in a variety of ways, including engineering projects, medical and dental care, participating in subject-matter-expert exchanges and conducting programs to provide humanitarian and civic assistance to Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Palau and Papua New Guinea.

Mercy is expected to arrive in Vietnam, May 31, and it will remain on station for slightly more than two weeks. In addition to the current stop in Guam, the hospital ship will re-supply at logistical hubs in Singapore and in Darwin, Australia, during the deployment.

"I can't emphasize enough what a partnership it is," Franchetti said. "That's why they call it Pacific Partnership. [It] really is not purely a military mission in any sense of the word, and we really couldn't do the mission without the support of all our partners."

The crew accompaniment aboard Mercy this year is not exclusively from the Navy. "We have quite a few Air Force and Army personnel, which is very exciting," Franchetti said. "They come from all over the U.S. There is a request that goes out to join the mission, and with some commands, it is a very competitive process."

In addition to the military support during the deployment, Franchetti said, an additional 130 partner-nation personnel will join the crew, as well as 580 volunteers from 17 nongovernmental organizations. "The total number of personnel on board will fluctuate [near] 900, and our maximum number will be right around 1,100," she added.

For this mission, Mercy has been outfitted with humanitarian and civic assistance equipment, supplies and a staff augmented with a robust multi-specialized team of preventive medicine personnel, veterinarians, medical and dental teams and engineering personnel.

"In addition to [performing] surgeries aboard the Mercy, [during] every one of the visits we will provide primary health and dental clinics, biomedical repair opportunities, preventive medicine and veterinarian care, which is a new thing this year for most of our countries," Franchetti said.

Some servicemembers who are a part of the crew will have the chance to be aboard an Australian ship prior to joining with the guided missile frigate USS Crommelin in Papua New Guinea, Franchetti said. In addition, when Mercy arrives in Vietnam and Cambodia, military personnel from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force will assist in medical training and subject-matter exchanges to provide quality medical and dental healthcare.

While in Vietnam, the Japanese dock landing ship JDS Kunisaki will provide additional medical support.

"We will have a medical team made up of approximately 40 medical personnel from the Japanese Self Defense Forces, as well as three different Japanese [noncommissioned officers]," Franchetti said. "So we are very excited to have the opportunity to work together in both Vietnam and Cambodia."

The concept of Pacific Partnership evolved from the unprecedented international disaster response for countries devastated during the 2004 Asian tsunami. Follow-up missions recognized the benefits derived from cooperation between national governments, militaries, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations during disaster relief operations, as well as in civic assistance projects, according to the official Pacific Partnership website. Read more!

AsiaRooms.com - Celebrate the Cambodian Queen Mother's Birthday in Siem Reap

PRLEAP.COM) AsiaRooms.com can reveal that people who have booked accommodation in Siem Reap during June could find that their stay coincides with one of Cambodia’s royal holidays.

On June 18th, the country celebrates the birthday of the Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk.

This year, she will be marking her 74th birthday, while her husband will turn 88 at the end of October. Their eldest son Norodom Sihamoni is the current king of Cambodia.

Although this is only classed as a minor celebration, anyone visiting Cambodia will notice that banners and greetings for the queen are rolled out around the country’s cities.

In recent years, it has become known as a family celebration, allowing parents to spend time with their children, Holidays Around the World informs.

People visiting Siem Reap will find that there are a range of activities organised for children on this day.

These are usually centred on parks or malls and many families choose to spend the day together and take part in the festivities.

In Cambodia, the royal family remain an important part of life, with several celebrations dedicated to them each year.

These include the King’s Birthday and Royal Ploughing Ceremony, which take place each May, as well as the King Father’s Birthday, which is marked in October.

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Cambodian royalist parties to merge ahead of 2013 election

Royalist parties of FUNCINPEC and Nationalist Party with former name as Norodom Ranariddh Party have agreed to establish an alliance to compete in 2013 general election, a party spokesman said Friday.

Peng Senga, spokesman of Nationalist Party said his party has held talks four times since last month with FUNCINPEC party and had agreed to establish an alliance, but more party's structures need further talks.

He said as the last meeting was convened on Wednesday, the two parties agreed to have co-presidents of the so-called "FUNCINPEC- Nationalist Alliance" while the position as secretary-general will need more discussion before final agreement to be made.

However, he said, the format for the secretary-general will be likely called as first and second with consensus voice or just first and second.

FUNCINPEC was originally brainstormed and set up as a front by then prince Norodom Sihanouk in 1986, but in 1992, it was transformed to a political party to challenge with Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party.

FUNCINPEC won general election in 1993, but had lost in the following three consecutive elections in 1998, 2003 and 2008.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh was the top leader since FUNCINPEC party was formed, but he was kicked out from the party in 2006, and the party then split into two: FUNCINPEC and Norodom Ranariddh Party, but now changed to Nationalist Party.

Currently, Cambodian People's Party has 90 seats in 123-seat parliament; Sam Rainsy Party gains 26, Human Rights Party has three, FUNCINPEC gains two and Norodom Ranariddh gains two.

Cambodia holds general election every five years and the next election will be held in 2013.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Commentary: Vietnam ousted the murderous Khmer Rouge by force; expecting peaceful change in North Korea is folly

Donald Kirk Los Angeles Times


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Is the regime of Kim Jong Il the cruelest the world has seen since Adolf Hitler's in Germany or Josef Stalin's in the Soviet Union? For all the world has heard about North Korea and its people's suffering, the answer is no. The dubious distinction of cruelest probably belongs to Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. That regime took over Cambodia in 1975 and ruled from the once-tranquil capital of Phnom Penh until December 1978, when Vietnamese communist troops drove it out. About 2 million people are estimated to have died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, from disease, starvation, executions and torture.

The suffering under the Khmer Rouge is resonant with the plight North Koreans have endured for many more years. Today, however, Phnom Penh is bustling, alive with shops selling an incredible variety of silk, statuary, silver objects and souvenirs. Restaurants offer just about any menu. The streets are swarming with traffic as motor scooters dart in and out and larger vehicles carry people and commercial products. Motorcycles pulling what look like small, old-fashioned carriages offer taxi services. Internet cafes thrive in every marketplace. Casinos and nightclubs lure those in search of higher-priced fun, and the National Museum and Royal Palace offer lush and rich glimpses of Khmer civilization and heritage going back 2,000 years.

So what lesson is there - for North Korea and the world - in the transformation of Cambodia from a frightening dictatorship into a hustling if not exactly democratic society? The revelation of North Korea's role in torpedoing a South Korean navy ship in March, with the loss of 46 lives, suggests why it's necessary to transform rule in the North as urgently as it was to end the Khmer Rouge's rule in Cambodia nearly 22 years ago.

Cambodia's current system, in which Hun Sen has ruled as prime minister, with the backing of Vietnam, almost continuously for 25 years, is not at all ideal. Many of the country's 15 million people continue to suffer economically. And it's fair to assume that torture and killings go on, although not on a mass scale.

In an imperfect world, however, Cambodia gives every appearance of having recovered its erstwhile reputation as an "oasis of peace." That was how Prince Norodom Sihanouk described his kingdom when navigating a treacherous course of neutrality as American and South Vietnamese forces fought the North Vietnamese until the U.S.-backed regime fell in Vietnam two weeks after the defeat of Cambodia in 1975. It was a measure of Sihanouk's incredible finesse that he was able to return to Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, even though a number of his children were killed by the forces that isolated him in his quarters.

Sihanouk has somehow survived, even though he has no real power. He is more or less a king emeritus, a revered figure who is able to appear above the tawdry power politics that periodically shakes up the elite six years after his eldest surviving son, Norodom Sihamoni, was crowned as his successor.

The Pol Pot regime had to fall, and the men around him - those responsible for forms of torture comparable to the security apparatus of North Korea's "Dear Leader," Kim Jong Il - had to flee, be killed or be captured. They had to disappear forever. That should not be lost on South Koreans or their U.S. ally in weighing how far to go in attempting reconciliation or "talks" with North Korea. Someone in responsibility has to face the question: At what point does intervention become necessary?

In that debate, the Khmer Rouge comparison assumes still greater relevance. The question is how was it that the forces of a communist country - against which the Americans and South Vietnamese, supported by two divisions of South Koreans, had fought for a generation - accomplished such a stunning success for the everlasting benefit of the Cambodian people? The answer in part is that Vietnam, after the communist victory in 1975, was never a terrible dictatorship. As Vietnam's leadership went through its own tortuous policy shifts, market capitalism began to flourish. Vietnamese gained a level of cultural and economic freedom that had not appeared possible in 1975. Moreover, Ho Chi Minh, who led Vietnam's communist regime until his death in 1969, never gained a reputation for pervasive cruelty over his own people, even as he ruthlessly suppressed opponents.

It's difficult to compare such different societies and cultures as those in Cambodia and North Korea, but the lesson is clear. There can be no real compromise with the Kim regime. The history of regimes such as Cambodia's under the Khmer Rouge is that they do not willingly yield, do not suddenly adopt humanitarian policies and do not give up the props of their rule, notably their weapons. It's wishful thinking to expect North Korea to shift its policies or honor any agreement on much of anything, including its nuclear weapons program. It took an upheaval to bring about relief from suffering in Cambodia, and it will take another on that scale to reform North Korea.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Donald Kirk, based in South Korea, covered Cambodia and Vietnam in the late 1960s and early '70s for newspapers and magazines. He is the author of several books, most recently "Korea Betrayed: Kim Dae Jung and Sunshine." He wrote this for the Los Angeles Times.
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Asian culture and community events in the Dallas area

In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, members of the Asian American Association of City Employees recently held a cultural program at Dallas City Hall that focused on Cambodia.

Sushil Mathew, association president, welcomed guests.

"There are city employees from more than 20 Asian countries who work for the city of Dallas," Mathew said. "This is an opportunity to learn from each other and build a stronger workforce that appreciates and embraces diversity."

Council member Dwaine Caraway read a proclamation, and City Manager Mary Suhm also spoke.

"Diversity is a major goal of our City Council," Suhm said. "Thank you for bringing unity to the city of Dallas through your diversity."

The event included an exhibit of Cambodian arts and a fashion show of traditional costumes.

Organizers presented Caraway and council member Carolyn Davis with scrolls showing their names in Cambodian characters.

After the presentations, guests enjoyed a lunch of noodles, rice and other Cambodian dishes.

To learn more about the association, visit www.aaace dallas.com.

Flower power

At the 2010 DFW Dragon Boat, Kite and Lantern Festival on Sunday, rowers from four teams tossed pink carnations into Lake Carolyn in Irving. The flowers symbolized remembrance and hope.

"We remember our loved ones who lost their lives to breast cancer," said Frances Leung. "We celebrate the survivorship of breast cancer patients."

Leung, community outreach manager for Asian Breast Health Outreach Project, organized three teams to participate in the breast cancer awareness division of the races. The teams were KOI and Mudzilla 1 and 2. The Organization of Chinese Americans-DFW sponsored the fourth team.

To learn more about the Asian Breast Health Outreach Project, visit www.asianbreast health.org.

Sunnyvale council

Saji George was sworn in Monday as a council member in Sunnyvale. He received the highest number of votes in the May 8 election, which also placed Ronnie Henderson Jr. and Pat Wiley on the council.

Born in India, George received an engineering degree from Texas Tech University and an executive master's degree from Southern Methodist University. He has about 20 years of experience in engineering and management.

He and his wife, Jaya George, have two children, Anne, 14, and Andrew, 11. The family said they are active members of St. Paul's Mar Thoma Church in Mesquite.

Sunnyvale, with a population of about 4,000, has an Asian population of about 25 percent, said Terry Reid, president of the Sunnyvale chamber.

"This is a great and historic event," Reid said of George's victory. Visit www.sajigeorge forsunnyvale.com.

Summer camp

The Crow Collection of Asian Art will hold "CampAsia: Summer Camp for Kids" in June and July. The four weekday camps are for ages 6-12. Registration ends June 1. The cost is $300 per weekly camp for members and $350 for others. A CampAsia Overnight is $125 per child for members and $150 per child for nonmembers. All fees include supplies and snacks. Call 214-979-6435 or e-mail education@crowcollection .org.Upcoming events

Today and Sunday

The Dallas Opera presents Madame Butterfly at 7:30 p.m. at the Winspear Opera House, 2401 Flora St. in Dallas. 214-443-1000. www.dallasopera.org.

Friday

Crow Collection After Dark will be from 6 p.m. to midnight. The event will focus on Korea and feature Korean-inspired fans and sampling of ice cream (flavors include green tea and red bean), tasting Korean beers and tours of "New Vision" and "Modern Twist: Bamboo Works From the Clark Center and the Art of Motoko Maio" exhibits. The museum is at 2010 Flora St. in Dallas. Free. 214-979-6430. www.crowcollection.org .

Saturday

The Crow Collection of Asian Art unveils "New Vision: Ballpoint Drawings by Il Lee." Lee is a New York artist of Korean heritage. The show includes eight large-scale works and 50 small works on paper.

The museum is at 2010 Flora St. in Dallas. 214-979-6430. www.crowcollection.org.

Gospel for Asia will hold a fundraising yard sale for a youth mission trip from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1800 Golden Trail Court in Carrollton. 972-371-4045.

The Chinese Institute of Engineers/USA-DFW will hold its 2010 Youth Engineering Fair from noon to 5 p.m. in the Student Union at the University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Road in Richardson www.cie-dfw.org.

Sunday

The Kimbell Art Museum presents a film, The Story of India; Ages of Gold, at 2 p.m. Free. The museum is at 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd. in Fort Worth. 817-332-8451. www.kimbellart.org .
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Cambodia marks annual Day of Anger against Khmer Rouge

Phnom Penh - Hundreds of Cambodians marked the annual Day of Anger against the Khmer Rouge regime Thursday at a former killing field outside the capital.

The cornerstone of the ceremony was a play in which a dozen Cambodians dressed as Khmer Rouge soldiers acted out executions in a reminder of the mass killings that characterized the regime that ruled from 1975 to 1979.

Pa Socheatvong, the deputy governor of Phnom Penh, said the purpose was to remember those who died during the Khmer Rouge regime.

The movement was led by Pol Pot, also known as Brother Number One.

"Pol Pot betrayed the country by using the people's blood as capital, so people are very angry with the Pol Pot regime," Pa Socheatvong told the German Press Agency dpa.

The event was first held in 1984, five years after the Khmer Rouge was driven from power.

Pa Socheatvong said the May 20 date was selected since it was on that day in 1976 that the Khmer Rouge leadership took the decision to kill people.

"They made it the strategy of their genocidal regime," he said.

Thursday's ceremony was held at Chhoeung Ek, which was where thousands of Cambodians from the regime's main security prison known as S-21 were executed. Both Chhoeung Ek and S-21 are popular sites for tourists visiting the capital.

Last year, S-21's commander, Comrade Duch, appeared before a joint UN-Cambodian tribunal charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. Judgement in Duch's case is expected in the coming months.

Four former Khmer Rouge leaders are currently in detention in Phnom Penh ahead of their trial which is likely to start early next year.

An estimated 1.7 million people died during the Khmer Rouge's rule of Cambodia from execution, overwork, starvation and illness. Read more!

ASEAN Regional Forum security policy meeting held in Vietnam

HANOI, May 19, 2010 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- A meeting on security policy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum was held in Vietnam's central city of Danang on Wednesday, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

The meeting drew delegates from 26 countries, the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat.
At the meeting, participants focused their discussions on ways to promote further the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)'s potential in dealing with non-traditional security challenges in the region. They also exchanged views on regional and international security situations.

The ARF Security Policy Conference is an annual meeting among deputy defense ministers from ARF members.

The meeting aims to promote cooperation on measures to build trust in the military area within the ARF framework, and open new channels for dialogue and exchanges among defense officials, diplomats and other important military figures, said the report.

The ASEAN Regional Forum was officially established in 1994. The current participants in the ARF includes Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste, the United States and Vietnam.
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Magic tattoo business is slow in Cambodia

By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Phnom Sruoch, CambodiaPeace has not been kind to practitioners of the 2,000-year-old tradition, which holds that magic tattoos can make you invisible, divert bullets and boost your net worth.

In a haze of incense, clients approach Kol Sambo and humbly request his help, sometimes seeking rush jobs for an imminent crisis. He listens and asks why they require added force. If he thinks they'll abuse the power, he turns them down "in a nice way."

Kol is a practitioner of magic tattoos, a 2,000-year-old tradition some call the "soul of the nation." They can make you invisible, divert bullets and boost your net worth, he says, but only if you believe.

The 50-year-old has traveled the Cambodian countryside for the better part of two decades decorating people's bodies with gods, geometric patterns, supernatural creatures and characters in Sanskrit and Pali, the liturgical language of Theravada Buddhism.

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Some images appear to move as the wearer's muscles ripple; on others, rounded Khmer script, softened by age, appears to melt as the lines grow fuzzier.

Kol says most clients prefer the more efficient made-in-China tattoo machine he bought a few years back, but, if asked, he still will use the traditional method to ink the skin: two or three sewing needles tied together.

Once applied, by whatever method, a tattoo must be blessed to activate its supernatural powers.

There are "fake" magic tattooists out there, Kol says disdainfully. He was born with the talent, he says, and honed it after becoming a monk and retreating into the mountains to meditate, ponder visions and study ancient texts under a spiritual master.

Grateful clients will periodically return, having survived a war or two, and offer thanks.

Chan Ngeuy, 60, a rail worker who was a soldier during the 1970s, took off his shirt to reveal a line of lacy symbols running the width of his chest, down the outside of his arms and the length of his back bracketing his spinal cord.

"I was shot at, but the bullet missed," he says. "My tattoo made all the difference."

Peace, however, as welcome as it may be to Cambodians after decades of bloodshed, is not a friend of the magic tattoo business.

"During wartime, everyone wants one," says Kong Taing Im, 38, a store owner visiting Kol hoping to safeguard her grandchildren's future. "Without war, mostly gangsters want them."

Nowadays, a tradition that migrated from India centuries ago and endured through numerous Cambodian wars and rulers is being chipped away by technology and an education system that encourages people to be literal-minded, says Miech Ponn, advisor on mores and customs at Phnom Penh's Buddhist Institute.

"Traditional tattoo artists are very few these days," the scholar says. "It's like a living museum."

This spread of modern skepticism is rather shortsighted, argues Cambodian heavyweight kickboxing champion Eh Phuthong, a national hero who credits the supernatural imagery spreading over his muscular body and onto his right fist for his winning record.

"Magic tattoos make me feel more confident, focused, allow me to punch harder and avoid my opponent's blows," Eh says, sporting a phoenix, a symbol of rebirth; the Hanuman monkey king, a force of life, agility and learning; and Vishnu god imagery, meant to provide strength. "They really work."

But even Eh says he's getting more snickers lately from young boxers who shun a practice once considered de rigueur for up-and-coming fighters.

Cambodia's few remaining magic tattoo artists these days tend to work in rural areas, where superstition is enduring, education less common and medical care limited.

Believers say the indelible marks, favored by soldiers, boxers and businessmen, ward off evil. They've also been something of a dead giveaway. During the mid-1970s Khmer Rouge reign of terror, when 2 million people died, the brutal regime targeted anyone who had been associated with the ousted government, many of whom were posing as farmers.

"Not many men with magic tattoos survived," Miech says. "If you had one, you were probably a soldier from the old regime and promptly executed."

It's not enough to simply get a magic tattoo. You must also tend its power. "It's like a mobile phone," says Chan Trea, 46, one of the few magic tattooists still operating in bustling Phnom Penh. "Without maintenance, it won't work."

To keep a tattoo's power, one should shun adultery, alcohol, insulting opponents while fighting them or eating star fruit.

Star fruit?

"Since ancient days, it's well known that people with tattoos or talismans should not consume this fruit," he says. "If it wasn't true, the warning wouldn't last so long."

These days, Chan Trea supplements his income with fashion tattoos.

"If I was only doing magic tattoos, I'd go broke," he says, leaning on the battered dentist chair his customers settle into for their needling sessions.

Magic tattoos are traditionally applied to the part of the body in need of protection, with anti-landmine tattoos placed on the legs, anti-fever tattoos near the heart. Sometimes, however, even the tattooist doesn't understand what he's applying.

Chan Trea says that a few weeks ago a monk asked him to tattoo a particular pattern but refused to say what it meant.

"In Cambodia, there are lots of secrets. People guard things jealously," he says, unfurling a copy of the mystery pattern he furtively kept.

Tattoo artists say women rarely indulge, partly for aesthetic reasons and because they fear they may be mistaken for prostitutes, but Kol sometimes blesses women's perfume bottles, protecting their aura that way.

"These foreign women wearing big tattoos, that looks rather strange to us," said Kong, the grandmother.

(Actress Angelina Jolie recently had a magic tattoo done on her left shoulder blade meant to protect her and her Cambodian son, Maddox, from bad luck and accidents. The translated Pali incantation reportedly reads in part: "May your enemies run far away from you; if you acquire riches, may they remain yours always.")

Cambodia's few remaining magic tattoo artists recognize that they're fighting an uphill battle but say they haven't lost hope.

"Granted, more and more people believe in rationality, technology and the Internet," Kol said. "But, you watch. As soon as the next war or crisis hits and they need us, they'll come running back." Read more!

Thailand unravelling

Red Shirts' anger has its root in deep-seated inequalities

By ERIK MARTINEZ KUHONTA, Freelance

Despite some 18 coups in its contemporary history, Thailand has long been a bastion of stability in Southeast Asia. It has avoided bouts of mass violence that have marred regional neighbours like Indonesia and Cambodia, and has become a major destination for tourists and an economic dynamo in Asia.

However, the current crisis that has parts of Bangkok looking like Beirut has the potential to unhinge Thailand from its stable moorings. Since the first clashes erupted in April, 67 people have been killed, and more than 1,700 have been injured. This degree of violence is unprecedented in Thailand.

At its core, this crisis has its roots in deep-seated inequalities between the rural sector and the ruling institutions and social groups based in Bangkok. The conflict between the Red Shirts and the Thai government stems from the September 2006 coup that ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Red Shirts, primarily rural people from the poorer areas of Thailand in the north and northeast, are avid supporters of Thaksin.

Incensed by the coup as well as by recent court rulings and backroom deals that eliminated governments led by Thaksin allies, the Red Shirts have been pushing to force out the current government of the Democrat Party, which took charge of government in 2008 when a number of Thaksin's parliamentary allies switched sides to give the Democrats a majority. That shady deal and repeated efforts to oust Thaksin and his allies are what so enrage the Red Shirts.

At a deeper level, the Red Shirts' support for Thaksin and visceral opposition to the Democrat-led government is a result of Thaksin's pro-poor policies. These policies, often called populist, included a universal health-care program known as the 30-Baht (75-cent) policy, a debt-moratorium program for farmers, and a Village Fund scheme that would have given every village in the country 1 million baht ( $25,000) to jumpstart small-scale entrepreneurial projects.

The record of these policies in alleviating poverty has been mixed, although the health-care scheme has been the most successful. But the actual success of these policies is less important than their political effect. The policies have created a powerful social base for Thaskin's party and a devoted following for his leadership. Unlike any prime minister in Thailand's history, Thaksin has successfully created a bond with the rural poor, established a track record of policy innovation in favor of the rural sector, and mobilized them to political action. This has created a major challenge for elites in Bangkok.

The Bangkok elite - the aristocratic class, the military, and large parts of the middle class - remain deeply opposed to Thaksin and the Red Shirts, especially because they view Thaksin as a corrupt prime minister who used his public office to protect and advance his capitalist interests.

But opposition to Thaksin is also due to his attempts to challenge King Bhumipol Adulyadej's traditional role as supreme leader of the nation. Since his accession to the throne in 1946, 82-year-old Bhumipol has been one of the most successful and unifying monarchs in Thailand. But the monarchy has also shown little tolerance for politicians who could displace its position as patron and builder of the nation. This is exactly what Thaksin sought to do through the force of his charisma, as much as through his pro-poor policies.

Thailand now finds itself on the brink of civil war. In the past, when Thai politics appeared to have reached a point of no return, Bhumipol was able to step in and bring the conflict to an end. This is no longer possible because the conflict involves the monarchy's role in the polity, but also because the king has been ailing for much of the past year. A recent effort by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to negotiate was rejected by the Red Shirts, pushing the government to use military force to dislodge the protesters. But a military strategy will only inflame rural discontent in the long-run. Both sides need to submit to an impartial negotiator, whether from within Thailand or from abroad, so that negotiations can be credible and earnest.

Once the violence subsides, the larger issue that Thailand needs to confront is the deep marginalization of the rural poor. The Bangkok elite has long ruled on the assumption that the rural poor would accept their fate and would never pose a serious challenge to the state and to society's conservative norms.

This is no longer the case and puts the burden on the elite to change its thinking if it wishes to remain relevant in the midst of political and social change.

Erik Martinez Kuhonta teaches political science at McGill University.

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Cambodia found more than 2,000 ghost civil servants

Cambodian government has found more than 2,000 irregular civil servants (simply called as ghost civil servants) who got government payrolls, a government report showed Tuesday.

The report said since the third census on civil servants began early last month, more than 2,000 irregular civil servants have been found at national level, which accounts for the loss of about 2 million U.S. dollars per year from the government budget.

Average salary for civil servants is about 80 U.S. dollar per month.

It remains unclear how many more of irregular civil servants will be found until this third census to be ended by the end of this month while there remain six more government institutions that need to be reviewed with.

After a new Royal Cambodian Government was formed in 1993, Cambodia held its first census on civil servants in 1995, and the second of its kind in 2001.

Source: Xinhua
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Cambodia Upstream Oil & Gas Fiscal Regime: 2010

Cambodia upstream oil and gas fiscal regime report is an essential source for information related to the upstream fiscal system enacted in Cambodia's oil and gas industry. This report contains information related to various types of payments that are to be made by any oil and gas producing company to the host government. The report provides the most recent laws and tax policies in the country. Each fiscal report is supported by a fully editable and interactive Excel model, where all the fiscal terms are applied on a hypothetical base asset. This interactive Excel model, with the latest fiscal term information, is the most appropriate tool to evaluate the profitability of operating oil and gas fields under the country's fiscal environment.

Scope

- The report provides detailed information on governing laws, licensing authorities, type of contracts and licensing information in country's upstream oil and gas industry.
- The report provides information on the latest fiscal terms applicable in the country's upstream industry. These range from exploration obligations, relinquishments to royalties and taxes.
- Deductions, depreciation and amortization related information is also covered in the report.
- Covers sample cash flows and the methodology to apply a fiscal system on an oil and gas field in the country.
- Base asset valuation with government take, contractor take, gross revenue split is provided in the report.
- Sample asset NPV sensitivities to discount rates are also provided in the report.
- Interactive Excel models can be used to derive valuations, sensitivities and cash flows based on the custom inputs by the user in the model. These custom inputs vary from field production data, cost information, price information and fiscal terms information.

Reasons to buy

- The report provides a detailed scenario of upstream oil and gas laws and their impact on the cash flows.
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- Decide on market entry strategies in specific markets and understand the impact a country's fiscal policies on your future assets. Read more!

History Can Help National Healing: Professor

A scene from the Play Breaking the Silence

The teaching of Khmer Rouge history through books, radio and other new methods can help the spirit of national reconciliation, a leading historian said Monday.

Sombo Manara, a history professor at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, said teaching the history of Democratic Kampuchea through such new initiatives as the radio play “Breaking the Silence,” was a path to peace, healing and reconciliation.

“Breaking the Silence” urges victims and perpetrators—many of whom live in the same villagers together but may never speak to each other—to address their collective trauma.

Sombo Manara said the radio play, which also toured as a live performance earlier this year and last year, can prompt memories and healthy debate.

“To have reconciliation in society for those people to apologize, that’s not to create a new fault and not to educate children to act with such wrongdoing,” he told “Hello VOA.” “That is a proper apology for those who were victimized.”

Sombo Manara also said apologies to victims from perpetrators not currently held by the Khmer Rouge tribunal would show the next generation a better way of doing things.

If apologies are made at the local level, it will help explain morality to the young, where the old can teach the rule of Buddha and merit and avoidance of sins, “in order to prevent such actions again,” he said.

Sombo Manara was responding to questions from guests about the Khmer Rouge tribunal, which is now seeking to prosecute its second case against jailed leaders of the regime. But so far only five have senior-most leaders been detained.

Low-ranking cadre will not be targeted by the tribunal’s prosecutors and judges, but Sombo Manara said they still bear some responsibility for helping the country overcome the atrocities of the regime.

Meanwhile, teachers who give lessons about the regime in history must make sure they are not producing new fault lines in the next generation through embittered or vengeful instruction, he said.

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Ambitious Monk Mixes Business With Buddhism

Monk, Hoeurn Somnieng recieves a degree in Business Management from the St. Ambros University in Iowa, USA.

One determined monk says he wants to use his education and experience from the US to help fund a number of projects, including a network that helps combat child trafficking.

Hoeurn Somnieng is the deputy head of Wat Damnak pagoda in Siem Reap. He studied at St. Ambrose University in Iowa in 2008. He says now he plans to return to Cambodia with a degree in business management and ideas to help his home country.

“I want to use my education to represent people in need and to represent the poor and powerless,” Hoeurn Somnieng told VOA Khmer in a recent interview. “This education gives me a louder voice.”

Hoeurn Somnieng is the founder and executive director of a junior high school, a boarding house for girls, a vocational training program, an orphanage and the Life and Hope Association.

The Life and Hope Association is the umbrella organization for his school, partially funded by foreign aid programs in the US, Australia and Germany. The program pays for student transportation and meals and supplements salaries of government teachers.

The association also works to improve the lives of disadvantaged Cambodians, particularly children and women, through education, vocational training, and health services. Many of those students who attend the school are victims of domestic abuse, orphans or street children. Many of them live in misery; some are trapped in the sex trade.

Hoeurn Somnieng heads the NGO Network in Siem Reap, as well as the Chamber of Social Service Network Against Child Labor. He is a program director for the Salvation Center Cambodia, where he worked on HIV and AIDS, including as a provincial monk core trainer on the disease and drug prevention.

What has all this taught him?

“You can change your future,” he said. “Bring hope into your life and keep working hard. Your future will be bright.”

He’s even developed a mathematical formula. “Life plus hope equals change,” he said. “And life plus hope plus education equals a great change.”

John Hawry, who teaches at the nursing department of Black Hawk College and is a colleague of Hoeurn Somnieng, said the monk remains dedicated to his country and has as strong work ethic.

He “helped establish a small shrine for the Buddhist community that lived around us,” Hawry said. “We have many people that migrated from Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos that lived in our town, so that was the first time that they had a shrine.”

Another colleague, Adam Vilmont, a graduate student at St. Ambrose, said Hoeurn Somnieng taught him meditation.

“It was a very profound experience for me,” he said. “In a period of great suffering, I was kind of not knowing what to do, and I just sat and closed my eyes and focused on my breathing.”

Another support of the monk’s work, Vivian Norton, said she organized a fundraiser for enough money to purchase 12 tons of rice—about a year’s supply—for the Life and Hope Association.

“I went to Cambodia three and a half years ago at a volunteer center that Venerable Somnieng established for young girls,” Norton said. “I met him at the sewing center and saw he had a project that worked and found him to be a very effective administrator for the project. But at the same time he certainly stands by Buddhist principles, and he is very devoted to his project and to his people.”

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Work starts on Vietnam-Cambodia joint hospital

Construction work was started on May 15 for the Cho Ray – Phnom Penh multiclinic hospital, a joint project between Vietnam ’s Saigon Medical Investment Joint Stock company and Sokimex company of Cambodia.

The US$42 million hospital covers an area of 50,000 sq.m in Meanchey district, around ten km from Phnom Penh . It has two five-storey buildings with 500 beds.

Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony, Vietnam ’s Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong said the project is new, vivid evidence of the good neighbourly ties and time-honoured friendship between Vietnam and Cambodia.

After coming into operation, the hospital will help improve health care services for Phnom Penh city dwellers in particular and Cambodian people in general, Trong added.

The hospital is expected to be complete in the next two years and create employment for more than 300 people.

Cambodian PM Hun Sen also praised the project and the cooperation of the Vietnamese government and Ho Chi Minh authorities to realise the project.

The hospital not only helps Cambodian people save money and time that they would have had to spend on treatment abroad, but also create an opportunity for local doctors to work with doctors of Cho Ray hospital in Ho Chi Minh city, thereby improving their professional skills, he added.

Earlier on May 14, the Vietnamese-invested Bank of Investment and Development of Cambodia (BIDC) handed over a floating school on Bien Ho lake to overseas Vietnamese living in Chhnok Trou commune, Boribo district of Kong Pong Ch’nang province.

Cambodian Deputy PM Men Sam On praised the Vietnamese community in Bien Ho area for their contribution to the local economuc development as well as to the preservation and enhancement of the Cambodia-Vietnam friendship.

The BIDC is owned by a Phnom Penh-based affiliate of the Bank of Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the Investment and Development of Cambodia Company (IDCC). (VNA) Read more!

Market Development Project Adviser, Cambodia

Voluntary Service Oversea

HELP MAKE MARKETS WORK FOR THE POOR IN CAMBODIA

VSO's overarching goal is to eradicate poverty in its widest sense; our vision is of a world in which people of all cultures are seen as equal, learn from each other and share a common sense of rights and responsibilities as global citizens.

If you have experience of market and value chain development in a pro-poor setting and strong capacity building and coaching skills, VSO would like to hear from you. We are looking for an experienced project manager to support the Cambodia Secure Livelihoods Programme Team in the start-up and implementation of a market development project, whose aim is to improve access to and participation in markets for poor and marginalized people.

The post is a key resource in implementing the Cambodia element of a global Making Markets Work for the Poor (MMW4P) project and will help to build the capacity of the VSO Cambodia secure livelihoods programme to act as a learning hub on market development approaches for other VSO programmes in the Asia region. Working closely with the Secure Livelihoods Senior Programme Manager, the Market Development Project Adviser will oversee the project activities, planning, implementing and monitoring these in line with the agreed aims and objectives.

The post-holder will also provide coaching and mentoring support to staff, volunteers and partners, helping them to understand and embrace market development approaches and integrate these into their work. In addition, he or she will develop and maintain relationships with key organisations and networks to support market development initiatives and take responsibility for project and financial reporting in accordance with donor requirements.

Salary / benefits:

£19,480 per annum pro-rata
Type of work:

Location:

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Languages required:

Closing date:

24.05.2010
Date job appeared on the site:

17.05.2010

To apply:

7For further information on this and all of our other vacancies, and to apply online, please visit http://www.vso.org.uk /about/work-for-vso/current-vacancies/ quoting reference 34BR.

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Cambodia Urges Thailand To Resume Peaceful Talks To Restore Peace

PHNOM PENH, The Cambodian government Monday urged all parties concerned in Thailand to resume peaceful talks in order to achieve a political settlement to the current stand- off.

In a statement released on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said that Cambodia, as a neighbouring country and a member state of ASEAN "is very concerned by the increasingly severe violence in Thailand."

It said the current awful situation in Thailand has gravely affected not only Thailand's image, but also that of ASEAN as well, according to China's Xinhua news agency on Monday.

Moreover, the statement urges all parties concerned in Thailand "to resume peaceful talks in order to achieve a political settlement to the current stand-off and restore peace and normalcy to the Thai people, thus stability in the region."

"The Cambodian people's only wish is to see the friendly Thai people enjoy a normal and peaceful life," the statement said.

Violence in Thailand has escalated in recent days, and more than 30 people have died and several hundreds people suffered injuries since the protests began.

-- BERNAMA Read more!

Mobile phones on rise in Cambodia

The use of mobile phones in Cambodia is remarkably popular and increased year by year, a government data showed on Monday.

The data of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication showed that the number of mobile phones used by the end of 2009 was 6.3 million, an increase from 3.8 million a year ago.

And by the first quarter of 2010, it estimated the mobile phone users at about 7.1 million, or about half of the country's total populations of 14.7 million.

Currently, there are nine mobile phone companies running in the country with Mobitel, owned by local tycoon Kith Meng of Royal Group, known as leading in the sector and followed by the new investment from Vietnam, known as Metfone or Vietell

The other seven are Hello, Mfone, Star Cell, Beeline, Smart Phone, QB, and Excell.

The number of mobile phone users in the country had risen over past years, and competition is also growing as users have choices to select which one is his/her favorite.

Many suggest that the boom of mobile phone users in the country is partly contributed by the economic growth and business demands in Cambodia's markets.

Source: Xinhua Read more!